In fiber optic communications networks, optical fibers are used to transmit signals throughout the network. Because optical fibers are thin, multiple optical fibers are often routed together in groups of fibers that are connected or bundled together. One arrangement of multiple optical fibers is a ribbon fiber, which is a group of optical fibers aligned in a single plane and held together by a film.
As is known in the art, at a certain point along the ribbon cable, access to individual fibers is required for connectorization or splicing of the discrete fibers. Access to individual fibers requires separating them from the ribbon cable at a point referred to as the “break-out point.” Although the discrete fibers are typically enclosed in a buffer tube to protect them and minimize their bending, at the break-out point, the individual fibers are neither contained in their buffer tube nor secured in the ribbon cable. Consequently, the fibers tend to be particularly fragile at this point, and thus must be protected by holding them in a certain position relative to the ribbon cable to avoid excessive bending. To this end, customized “break-out” or “fan-out” devices have been developed.
Fan-out devices typically are trapezoidal in shape with the ribbon cable entering the short side of the trapezoid and discrete fibers leaving the longer side of the trapezoid. The device has a series of internal channels to guide and control the discrete fibers as the break out from the ribbon cable.
Although traditional fan-out devices are effective in protecting fibers from excessive bending, Applicants recognize that such devices are typically customized for a particular application, and are specific to the size of the ribbon cable and the number of discrete fibers that are broken out from the ribbon cable. Such specificity may be limiting. For example, there may be applications in which just a few fibers need to be fanned out from the ribbon and the rest of the ribbon cable can otherwise be left intact. In such applications, the fan-out device must be customized with a specific number of channels to accommodate the few fibers that need to be fanned out.
Applicants realize that such customized fan-out devices are inconvenient and expensive to fabricate in small quantities and inventory. Therefore, Applicants have determined that a universal fan-out device is needed which can accommodate a range of ribbon cable sizes and fan-out configurations. The present invention fulfills this need among others.